Rehau and Yale champion sustainable operations

Almost two years on from the launch of the strategic partnership between Rehau and Yale, the two companies are now championing local manufacturing to deliver secure and sustainable solutions for the UK fenestration industry.

Originally commencing in January 2022, the partnership allows window fabricators and installers to source Rehau profiles pre-integrated with Yale hardware. The entire product range is jointly tested, meaning that all hardware is PAS 24 approved for maximum security.

For additional peace of mind, all homeowners can benefit from the Yale lifetime security guarantee. This means that Yale will pay towards insurance excesses, replacement hardware, homeowner compensation, and costs of immediately re-securing the property should a window or door be broken into due to the failure of a Yale locking mechanism.

With the partnership now in its second year, the two companies are actively working to reduce carbon emissions throughout the breadth of the supply chain, from manufacturing through to recovery at end-of-life.

Gemma Diratzonian, head of marketing at Yale Door and Window Solutions, said: “The partnership between Yale and Rehau was founded upon the shared values of market-leading products, technical expertise, and a sustainable business model, using our combined 200-plus years’ experience for the betterment of the industry. This is something we’re still prioritising 18 months on.

“The combination of Rehau’s profiles with Yale hardware presents the ultimate, off-the-shelf, all-in-one solution for fabricators, while we’re also striving to reduce our carbon footprint throughout the supply chain. This means that fabricators and installers can benefit from sustainable products without compromising on quality.”

Both companies manufacture in the UK, with Yale’s products bearing the ‘Made in Britain’ mark and being manufactured at the business’ ISO 140001-certified UK plants in Cheltenham and Willenhall. Between 2019 and 2022, the zero-to-landfill Willenhall facility has been able to reduce energy intensity by 23%, alongside improve water efficiency by 8%.

Similarly, Rehau reaffirmed its commitment to local manufacturing with an expansion in production at its Blaenau Ffestiniog factory in early 2022.

As part of the partnership, all Yale hardware is also shipped to Rehau’s manufacturing facility in zero-plastic packaging rather than separately, in order to reduce the carbon emissions of logistics and transport. Rehau then delivers its products with lorries that take advantage of ‘green’ hydrogenated oil to its fabricator partners to further minimise impacts on the environment.

Further down the supply chain, both companies are engaged in recovery programmes to help improve circularity throughout the UK fenestration industry. Yale employs a Council for Aluminium in Buiding (CAB) closed loop recycling scheme so that all aluminium is recycled, while Rehau works closely with partner, CNC Recycling, to send old profiles to the company’s PVCR recycling facility in Runcorn.

Nihat Ozdal from Denis Windows recently commented on what the partnership has meant for his business: “The quality of both brands is well-known across the industry, so it was an easy decision for us to make. We’re now able to single-source both our profiles and hardware, which has reduced the administrative burden and generally streamlined the supply chain for us. The fact that both companies manufacture in the UK is an added bonus, as it means we’re able to benefit from shorter lead times compared to ordering from the continent.”

Russell Hand, head of production management and technical at Rehau Window Solutions, said: “Local manufacturing is key to both bolstering the national economy and slashing carbon emissions, and it’s great to see that Yale feels as strongly about this as we do. Together, we hope to forge a path to Net Zero for the UK fenestration industry, and continue to supply high-quality sustainable solutions to fabricators and installers alike.”